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As Far as the East is from the West: Understanding Scripture from the Hebrew Mindset

Quit Bothering Me

Something has been bothering me for quite awhile. And that something has a lot to do with certain conversations in the Coffee Shop forum.

Now, I obviously get tired of the arguing and rudeness that goes on in our conversations every now and again. But I've already talked about that.

No, this is something entirely different — and something that I don't think most of us are aware of when we talk to one another. Let me make a feeble attempt to explain myself:

If you've spent any time in the forum, you know that there are a lot of disagreements, one of which is about Scripture: how best to interpret it, its inconsistencies, and so on. Usually when people discuss such issues, they present their viewpoints logically. They start with point A, move on to point B and come to conclusion C.

This kind of reasoning is what we're used to — the way we've been taught to argue on our debate teams and in our logic classes. There's nothing wrong with this, but I do find this approach quite interesting, especially when we begin to realize how it affects the way we understand, interpret and apply what we read in the Bible.

Which One Is It?

This linear thinking and argumentation came to my mind a lot when reading the inconsistencies in the Bible thread. When most of us come across a seeming error or inconsistency in Scripture, it rubs us the wrong way, which makes sense. After all, if the Bible says that one thing is true at one point, it can't become untrue at another point, right?

I've been confused numerous times while reading the Scriptures. To be honest, some stuff just doesn't seem to match up. Take a look:

• It seems like there are two different accounts of creation — one story in Genesis 1 and another story in Genesis 2.
• The Exodus story talks a lot about that mean old Pharaoh and the way he kept hardening his heart against the Israelites. But wait — some of these verses say that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Which was it?
• Then there are the verses that talk about how God foreknew everything, how He predestined some of us, how He has chosen people. But there are other passages that seem to hold us accountable for ourselves, verses that say that we have a choice when it comes to following God.

And honestly, these passages are confusing; they seem to be saying two different things. We read them and don't understand how both can be true — we either try to explain the inconsistencies away, or we assume that the authors made a mistake.

But let's look at this from a different angle for the next few minutes. What I would like us to consider is that the way we view the Scripture and the way we read and approach these seeming inconsistencies has a lot to do with how we've been taught to think. And, what I would like us to recognize is that the way we Westerners think is a lot different from how the biblical writers thought.

God is Omniscient … and a Rock

Those of us who are Western have been very influenced by the ancient Greeks. They were pretty smart people — from them we got guys like Aristotle, Plato and Socrates.

These Greek thinkers approached knowledge and truth in a couple of ways: (1) They elevated abstract ideas above the physical and (2) they believed that truth was to be found through facts bonded together in a linear, logical sequence. These are both good things and good ways to approach truth.

But what's important to notice here is that (1) and (2) are different from the ways that the Jews, the biblical writers, and, it seems, Jesus Himself, thought about things. And this difference is quite fascinating, especially when we realize how it affects the way we look at Scripture and God.

Let's use (1) and (2) from above to explore this difference in thinking.

An example of (1) is an illustration that teacher Ray Vander Laan uses when explaining the difference in Eastern and Western thought. He tells everyone in the room to close their eyes and shout out descriptions of God. In fact, you should try this right now. Don't continue reading until you've listed some words that describe God. Go ahead, I'll wait …

OK, I bet your list sounded something like this: God is just, holy, love, omniscient, pure, good, omnipresent. All of these things are very true of God; He is all of those things. But notice that all of those words are also abstract concepts — we can't picture them. We do this because we have been influenced by Greek thought, and we tend to think in terms of abstract ideas.

Now contrast your list with the way a Hebrew student in Israel would describe God: He is a rock, an eagle's wing, a shepherd, shade when it's hot. These are all physical descriptions. They are all things we can see, things we can experience. They're all true about God — in fact, the Bible clearly describes God in these ways — but they are different from the way most of us Westerners would naturally describe who God is.

As for (2), the Western, linear way of thinking is aptly demonstrated in our approach to theology and creeds. The Apostle's Creed, is a beautiful piece of writing that correctly describes God, Jesus' saving work, our responsibility to believe and accept it, and the Holy Spirit's role in our lives. It flows linearly, describing what a Christian believes about the Godhead. And the existence of this creed is a very Greek thing.

The Jewish people have no such creeds. They were not concerned with being linear, with telling stories in order, with blocking out any seeming contradiction. Instead, the Hebrews learned theology through something called block logic. Marvin R. Wilson's book, Our Father Abraham describes this type of thinking:

[C]oncepts were expressed in self-contained units or blocks of thought. These blocks did not necessarily fit together in any obviously rational or harmonious pattern, particularly when one block represented the human perspective on truth and the other represented the divine.¹

The Jewish people were and are much more comfortable with paradox — seeming contradiction — than we are. It doesn't bother them if they see a verse that promotes predestination next to one that seems to point toward free will. To them, both concepts are true because God is bigger than we are. His sovereignty trumps our feeble understanding.

Now, I believe it's important for us to recognize this difference in thought when we approach the Scripture because it will help us to understand why and how the Hebrews read their Bibles. It will also help us to look at these supposed biblical inconsistencies in a new light.

Writing Style

First of all, there are numerous writing styles used throughout the Scripture. One that the authors often used involves multiple stories within one story, or repeating what has just been said.² Look:

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart. (Proverbs 3:1)

For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke. (Proverbs 3:11)

All of these verses say the same thing twice. It is a common technique used by biblical writers. And so, a Hebrew reading the first two chapters in Genesis wouldn't necessarily see two conflicting accounts of creation. He would simply see the creation story told twice — one more detailed than the other. From the Jewish mindset, this makes sense. Unlike us Westerners, he wouldn't spend a lot of time analyzing the differences between the two chapters.

Blocks of Logic

As I mentioned before, the biblical writers used block logic, as opposed to our linear logic. This is seen throughout Scripture, as mentioned above in the stories of Pharaoh's hard heart or the seeming contradiction between predestination and free will. What's important to note here is that a Hebrew wouldn't see these contradictions. With their understanding of truth and who God is, Pharaoh can harden his own heart and God can harden it at the same time. No problem. One verse is a representation of man's view, and one is of God's. As Wilson notes:

Consideration of certain forms of block logic may give one the impression that divine sovereignty and human responsibility were incompatible. The Hebrews, however, sense no violation of their freedoms as they accomplish God's purposes. … Divine sovereignty and human responsibility were not incompatible.³

This type of thinking makes arguing about God's mercy versus His justice — or the issues of predestination versus free will — fairly unnecessary. Both can be true at the same time.

Now, this is not to say that discussions about these topics are worthless or not useful. But it is interesting to note that the people who wrote and first discussed the Bible did not spend time or energy creating new denominations based on Calvin's five points. They saw no need — their way of thinking didn't lead them to these arguments.

So Where Does This Leave Us?

A single article isn't enough to adequately cover this topic of Eastern and Western thought. And my goal is not to get anyone to completely change the way they think or convince anyone that theological differences don't matter.

What I do hope is that when we began to discuss issues — especially ones presented in Scripture — we take the time to acknowledge that we're approaching these issues from our Western mindset, which is distinctly different from the way the biblical writers approached things.

One method is not better than the other, but we may sometimes misunderstand Scripture because we do not know the intent or context that these verses were written in. We may not be aware of the literary tool being used in a certain passage; our Bible translation may have used a different word or concept than the original Hebrew; or when Jesus said something in one of the gospels, we may not be aware of the Scripture or Jewish custom or holiday He was referring to. All of these distinctions are important for us to understand so we can intelligently and respectfully discuss the truths of the Scripture.

C O F F E E  S H O P

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How has your Western way of thinking affected the way you read the Bible?

Join the discussion!

We must recognize that the Bible's truth transcends time, but also that God chose to reveal the Scripture to a certain people, who had a certain mindset, at a certain time. Understanding and applying this knowledge to our discussions of Scripture, I believe, will deepen and broaden the beauty of God's word.

So, let's continue our discussions and our understanding of God's word. But let's approach it with the proper context in mind. See you in the Coffee Shop.